Calendar watch setting stem with displaceable spring biased gear

ABSTRACT

In a calendar watch, the watch stem has three positions available for independently setting the time, setting the date and winding the watch. Independence of these functions is achieved by the use of gears mounted slidably on a spline which is part of the stem, and by a gear displaceable transversely of its axis, which makes it possible to move the spline into contact with the gears without causing damage even when the teeth of the spline and the corresponding teeth in the gears are not in register.

United States Patent Miyasaka [54] CALENDAR WATCH SETTING STEM WITHDISPLACEABLE SPRING BIASED GEAR [72] Inventor: Mamoru Miyasaka, Nagano,Japan 73 Assignee: "kabushiki Kaisha Suwa Seikosha, Tokyo,

Japan [22] Filed: July 28, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 166,753

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 30, 1970 Japan .45/66348[52] US. Cl ..58/58, 58/68 [51] Int. Cl. ..G04b 19/24 [58] Field ofSearch ..58/4, 5, 58, 63, 67-72 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 3,377,795 4/1968 Rogers ..58/58 451 June 13, 1972 3,470,68710/l969 Ono et a]. ..58/58 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 348,365 9/ l960 Switzerland ..58/68 372,983 12/1963 Switzerland ..58/58 PrimaryEvaminer-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-George H. Miller, Jr.Attorney-Harold 1. Kaplan, et al.

57 ABSTRACT In a calendar watch, the watch stem has three positionsavailable for independently setting the time. setting the date andwinding the watch. Independence of these functions is achieved by theuse of gears mounted slidably on a spline which is part of the stem, andby a gear displaceable transversely of its axis, which makes it possibleto move the spline into contact with the gears without causing damageeven when the teeth of the spline and the corresponding teeth in thegears are not in register.

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MAMORU MIYASAKA A TTORNE Y5 PATENTEnJun 1 3 m2 3. 668 664 SHEET nor 4 22g-g I 1 W 6 7/ FIG. 7 Z/\ 23 ,9 W 75 /2 7/ 71L 5 LA; /6 29 /4 31 /6 2827 2 FIG. 8 /5 INVEXTOR. MAMORU MIYASAKA ATTORNEYS CALENDARWATCI-ISETTING STEM WITH DISPLACEABLE SPRING BIASED GEAR BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION In a conventional Calendar watch mechanism, where themechanism must provide for independently winding the watch, setting thedate, and setting the time, a number of parts such as a setting lever, aclutch lever, a clutch wheel, a winding pinion gear, and a spring leverare required. Also for the date changing mechanism, a setting wheellever must engage a setting lever and a date changing wheelmust beprovided. The number of parts is such that considerable space isrequired for these numbers within the watch; manufacturing andassembling of the members are complex and difficult to provide for inmass production and the incremental cost is substantial.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a calendar watch, a spline is fixed androtates with the stem. The stem can be placed axially in any of threepositions. In the innermost position a winding pinion gear is meshedwith the spline and rotation of the stem actuates a winding trainthrough a gear which can be moved transversely of its axis. The windingpinion gear is separated axially from the spline when the stem is inoutermost position for setting the time. If the winding pinion gear isout of registry with the spline when the stem is returned to theinnermost position, the displaceable gearmoves transversely, therebypreventing damage to teeth of the spline and the winding pinion gear.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a calendarwatch mechanism having fewer parts than conventional mechanisms.

Another object of the invention is to provide a calendar changingmechanism occupying less space than conventional mechanisms and makingit possible to decrease the overall size of the watch.

A further object of the invention is to lower the cost of a calendarchanging mechanism by decreasing the number of parts necessary.

Yet another object of the invention is to avoid damage to gear teethwhen moving the watch stem inwardly.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification. v

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of theinvention, reference is had to the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged, cut-away plan view of a setting and changingmechanism in accordance with the present invention with the stem ininnermost position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the same mechanism with the stem inintermediate position;

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the same mechanism with the stem inoutermost position;

FIG. 4 is a similar view of the same mechanism with the stem ininnermost position but disconnected from the winding mechanism;

FIG. 5 is a side, elevational view in partial cross section of themechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 and corresponds to FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 5 and corresponds to FIG. 3; and

FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 5 and corresponds to FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In accordance with the presentinvention, a stem 11 engages a spring 12 at one of three detents 13. Awinding pinion gear 14 is slidably mounted on a spline 15 (FIGS. 1 and5) fixed to the stem 11. The stem 11 is parallel to a support plate 16.The spline 15 also has mounted thereon, when the stem is in innermostposition, a date drive gear 17. A spring 18 urges winding pinion 14 andthereby date drive gear 17 to mesh with spline 15. A gear 19,displaceable transversely of its axis, is supported within openings 21and 22 in bridges 23 and 24. The transversely displaceable gear 19 isurged by spring 25 to engage ratchet wheel 26 when the stem 11 isrotated in clockwise direction as viewed from the top of FIG. 1. Whenthe stem 11 is turned in the opposite direction the transverselydisplaceable gear 19 moves against the urging of the spring 25 and isdisengaged from ratchet wheel 26.

Moving the stem to the intermediate position (FIGS. 2 and 6) disengageswinding pinion gear 14 from transversely displaceable gear 19 andengages the date drive gear 17 with date wheel 27. The date wheel 27 canbe adjusted by rotation of the stem 11 in either direction. The stem isshown in this position in FIGS. 2 and 6. It will be noted that datedrive gear 17 is carried by winding pinion gear 14 and does not itselfmesh with spline 15.

When the stem 11 is in the outermost position (FIGS. 3 and 7) both thewinding pinion gear and the date drive gear are displaced axially fromthe spline, and therefore do not rotate when the stem is rotated. Thedisplacement is effected by edge 28 of support 16. However, pinion gear29 meshes with corresponding crown gear 31 when the stem 11 is in theoutermost position. With the stem 11 in the outermost position, rotationof the stem causes rotation of crown gear 31 and thereby setting of thetime.

The stem 11 is once more shown in innermost position in FIGS. 4 and 8immediately after being returned to this position. As the stem 11 ispushed to the innermost position, if the teeth of the spline do notregister with those of the winding pinion gear 14, then the transverselydisplaceable gear 19 is moved to the disengaged position so thatbreakage of teeth does not occur. Then, as the stem 11 is rotated andteeth of the spline register with those of the winding pinion gear, thewinding pinion gear and the date drive gear move onto the spline underthe urging of spring 18 and the transversely displaceable gear 19 movesinto the position in which it engages the winding pinion gear 14.

In a conventional mechanism, a clutch wheel is engaged with the splineportion of the stem, and rotation of the stem is transmitted to awinding pinion and a crown wheel so that the main spring is wound.However, in accordance with the present invention, the movement of thetransversely displaceable gear 19 makes it possible to eliminate aclutch wheel, a clutch lever and a clutch lever screw. Moreover, thewinding pinion gear 14 is movable axially, so that both clockwise andcounterclockwise rotation of the date wheel can easily be performed.Consequently the number of parts required for this system is smaller,which facilitates manufacture of the watch in mass production, lowersthe cost and lowers the amount of space needed for the assembly.Furthermore, the mechanism is suitable for use with automatically woundwatches, since when the watch spring is completely wound, a transverselydisplaceable gear is moved similarly so that it is disengaged from thewinding pinion gear and rotation is not transmitted to the stem 1 1.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the above description or shown in theaccompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved winding, date changing and time setting mechanism for acalendar watch comprising a stem rotatably mounted in said watch andslidable to an outermost, anintermediate and an innermost position, atoothed spline fixed to said stem for rotation therewith, a windingpinion gear having internal teeth adapted to mesh with the teeth of saidspline and slidably mounted on and removable from said spline as saidstem is moved to said outermost position, a displaceable gear mountedfor displacement transversely of its axis, and engageable with saidwinding pinion gear, a winding train engaged with said displaceablegear, first spring means urging said displaceable gear toward saidwinding pinion gear and toward said winding train for meshingengagement, and second spring means urging said winding pinion geartoward engagement with said spline, damage being avoided when saidinternal teeth of said winding pinion gear and said teeth of said splineare brought together out of registry as said stem is moved toward theinnermost position by displacement of said displaceable gear.

2. An improved mechanism of claim I, further comprising a date drivegear slidably mounted with respect to said spline and a date wheelengageable with said date drive gear, said date drive gear engaging saiddate wheel when said stem is in said intermediate position foradjustment of said date wheel by rotation of said stem in eitherdirection, said winding pinion gear being disengaged from saiddisplaceable gear when said stem is in said intermediate positionthereby providing for adjustment of the date without actuating saidwinding train.

3. An improved mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a pinion gearmounted coaxially on said stem, and a time-setting train including acrown gear, said pinion gear engaging said crown gear when said stem isin said outermostposition, said winding pinion gear and said date drivegear being displaced from said spline when said stem is in saidoutermost position, thereby providing for setting the time withoutdisplacing the date wheel or actuating the winding train.

1. An improved winding, date changing and time setting mechanism for acalendar watch comprising a stem rotatably mounted in said watch andslidable to an outermost, an intermediate and an innermost position, atoothed spline fixed to said stem for rotation therewith, a windingpinion gear having internal teeth adapted to mesh with the teeth of saidspline and slidably mounted on and removable from said spline as saidstem is moved to said outermost position, a displaceable gear mountedfor displacement transversely of its axis, and engageable with saidwinding pinion gear, a winding train engaged with said displaceablegear, first spring means urging said displaceable gear toward saidwinding pinion gear and toward said winding train for meshingengagement, and second spring means urging said winding pinion geartoward engagement with said spline, damage being avoided when saidinternal teeth of said winding pinion gear and said teeth of said splineare brought together out of registry as said stem is moved toward theinnermost position by displacement of said displaceable gear.
 2. Animproved mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a date drive gearslidably mounted with respect to said spline and a date wheel engageablewith said date drive gear, said date drive gear engaging said date wheelwhen said stem is in said intermediate position for adjustment of saiddate wheel by rotation of said stem in either direction, said windingpinion gear being disengaged from said displaceable gear when said stemis in said intermediate position thereby providing for adjustment of thedate without actuating said winding train.
 3. An improved mechanism ofclaim 1 further comprising a pinion gear mounted coaxially on said stem,and a time-setting train including a crown gear, said pinion gearengaging said crown gear when said stem is in said outermost position,said winding pinion gear and said date drive gear being displaced fromsaid spline when said stem is in said outermost position, therebyproviding for setting the time without displacing the date wheel oractuating the winding train.